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SKY-HI – 7-member group HANA is born, but No No Girls is not over yet
Translated from SKY-HI's interview series with Nikkei, "Be myself, for ourselves"
Original interview, 122nd installment from February 27, 2025
Boss thinks one of the advantages of BMSG is that the president and producer are the same person (him), and they can take on projects like THE FIRST, THE FIRST FINAL, and BMSG FES boldly. He thinks if there was two of him, it would be easier to devote more resources as a producer, and if he was the CEO he could organize their business more and a lot of things would be easier.
He’s always had a strong respect for Chanmina as a solo artist but through NNG felt once again that mina isn’t a selfish person. She thinks about the whole project sincerely, and she understands when he gives input like, “If we spend budget here” or “If we do this here” and of course times when she insists she really wants to do something, so it was easy for him to leave [NNG] to her.
Boss thinks Drop is very cool and he thinks it will be a hot topic. He hopes by the time of HANA’s pre-debut more people will watch and know about NNG and they keep this momentum and become artists who can have an impact on society
NNG was a big challenge for him in two ways: one was that it’s the first time there will be a female artist in the company and two is making a friend his business partner. So even though it was a lot of fun there were times where he had to be very careful not to behave or say anything inappropriate. In terms of the latter, he thought they would be fine because it’s mina but he was aware there was a high risk that NNG could ruin their friendship. He desperately thought of making it something she would think is “really good to do”. He was able to relax and enjoyed the performances in the final screening, and he thought it was good they did it.
He was genuinely happy that mina told him “Thank you so much”. Before NNG he thought this project would be a good opportunity for mina to reach her next phase, and after it was over he thought he moved on to his next phase as a person too
Boss says mina is more sensitive than her public image lets on and often says she has no confidence. Before NNG started she was anxious and asked boss, “I know what Mikkun has been saying all this time, but is it OK for me?” or “Is now the right time?” Of course, mina has a vision of the kind of girl group she wants to create and is confident that she can create a strong group, but she’s only been an artist for 7-8 years and was barely 25 when NNG started. She worried whether she could lead the participants
Mina told him after NNG THE FINAL, “If Mikkun insists that I should definitely do it, I thought I’ll give it a go. I’m really glad I got to meet the girls and it was really good for me as well.”
After listening to mina’s “Death Anniversary” he thought mina could evolve into her next phase, but with the huge success of “Never Grow Up” people expect to see traces of her young self. Boss thinks mina is a monster that transcends age and experience so he thought mina would be someone that can handle NNG. It would be good for her future works if she could show more of who she is as a person through NNG and by coincidence she also got married and had a baby during this time, which was like a godsend. He thinks the songs she’ll write from now will inevitably move away from “Never Grow Up”, but he has no doubt that NNG was a big turning point for her.
He thought NNG would be the best way to show mina’s strengths to the world, though she’ll sometimes be unconfident when they eat together. But HANA will give them a lot of confidence and prove that what they’ve been doing is correct and thinks that’s what mina feels most strongly about. He thought it was about time they receive a bonus for all the hard work they’ve put in, and he’s glad he was able to present Chanmina to the world again
Boss said he was careful during the auditions, but towards the end he was genuinely enjoying the girls’ performances. He has become their fan since the 4th round, while he wanted everyone to join personally, as the company’s CEO he had to be selfless. Even mina would sometimes ask him, “What do you think of MAHINA as a fan, not as the president?” He thinks MAHINA is the type of person that could grow under mina’s guidance, so he’s glad Mahina’s chosen as a member of HANA. He had a lot of conversations like this with mina on various participants.
There were some NNG Top 30 girls that surprised boss with their growth compared to when they were in the audition. Mina is the main person handling the conversations with the girls that weren’t picked for HANA, but actually on NNG THE FINAL there were other labels and agencies that went to the concert, plus producers. Fukase (from SEKAI NO OWARI) and Komuro Tetsuya too went to NNG THE FINAL, in these sense, NNG is not over yet
Boss wants HANA to be a group that gains not just fans from home (Japan) but also overseas, so he hopes to reach them as soon as possible. He doesn’t know where or how the fire will be caught, so he wants to tackle this from multiple angles and do his best. When BE:FIRST’s world tour starts in April, he wants to explore opportunities for HANA while touring the world. He has also been working on his own releases and he thinks it will turn out well. His career seems to be attracting interest, especially in Asia, he says people “want to meet him”, from starting as an idol and rapper to starting a company and creating a boy group through THE FIRST and continuously developing new things in the industry as BMSG. He wants to do his best so there’s no time to rest or feel tired at all. Until BE:FIRST clears two more hurdles, he doesn’t think he has time to truly rest.
Through No No Girls, boss was able to meet the CEO of Rainbow Entertainment (the agency Chanmina is part of), Kurita Shuichi. Boss has CEOs he admires but no role model. Given that what he’s doing with BMSG is counter to the entertainment and music system, he knows there technically isn’t a role model, but he thinks Kurita-san might be that for him. He’s senior than him but very liberal in his thoughts, and boss respects that.
- When boss confided in Kurita-san about worries he has regarding management, Kurita-san gave him lots of ideas and the conversation stimulated him. He thinks Chanmina is able to do the things she can now because of Rainbow Ent., even if Chanmina didn’t think too deeply when she decided on this agency. Boss learned a lot from Kurita-san (though they’ve only gone out for dinner once so far) and their meeting was huge for him.
Hope you enjoyed!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
Original interview, 122nd installment from February 27, 2025
Boss thinks one of the advantages of BMSG is that the president and producer are the same person (him), and they can take on projects like THE FIRST, THE FIRST FINAL, and BMSG FES boldly. He thinks if there was two of him, it would be easier to devote more resources as a producer, and if he was the CEO he could organize their business more and a lot of things would be easier.
He’s always had a strong respect for Chanmina as a solo artist but through NNG felt once again that mina isn’t a selfish person. She thinks about the whole project sincerely, and she understands when he gives input like, “If we spend budget here” or “If we do this here” and of course times when she insists she really wants to do something, so it was easy for him to leave [NNG] to her.
Boss thinks Drop is very cool and he thinks it will be a hot topic. He hopes by the time of HANA’s pre-debut more people will watch and know about NNG and they keep this momentum and become artists who can have an impact on society
NNG was a big challenge for him in two ways: one was that it’s the first time there will be a female artist in the company and two is making a friend his business partner. So even though it was a lot of fun there were times where he had to be very careful not to behave or say anything inappropriate. In terms of the latter, he thought they would be fine because it’s mina but he was aware there was a high risk that NNG could ruin their friendship. He desperately thought of making it something she would think is “really good to do”. He was able to relax and enjoyed the performances in the final screening, and he thought it was good they did it.
He was genuinely happy that mina told him “Thank you so much”. Before NNG he thought this project would be a good opportunity for mina to reach her next phase, and after it was over he thought he moved on to his next phase as a person too
Boss says mina is more sensitive than her public image lets on and often says she has no confidence. Before NNG started she was anxious and asked boss, “I know what Mikkun has been saying all this time, but is it OK for me?” or “Is now the right time?” Of course, mina has a vision of the kind of girl group she wants to create and is confident that she can create a strong group, but she’s only been an artist for 7-8 years and was barely 25 when NNG started. She worried whether she could lead the participants
Mina told him after NNG THE FINAL, “If Mikkun insists that I should definitely do it, I thought I’ll give it a go. I’m really glad I got to meet the girls and it was really good for me as well.”
After listening to mina’s “Death Anniversary” he thought mina could evolve into her next phase, but with the huge success of “Never Grow Up” people expect to see traces of her young self. Boss thinks mina is a monster that transcends age and experience so he thought mina would be someone that can handle NNG. It would be good for her future works if she could show more of who she is as a person through NNG and by coincidence she also got married and had a baby during this time, which was like a godsend. He thinks the songs she’ll write from now will inevitably move away from “Never Grow Up”, but he has no doubt that NNG was a big turning point for her.
He thought NNG would be the best way to show mina’s strengths to the world, though she’ll sometimes be unconfident when they eat together. But HANA will give them a lot of confidence and prove that what they’ve been doing is correct and thinks that’s what mina feels most strongly about. He thought it was about time they receive a bonus for all the hard work they’ve put in, and he’s glad he was able to present Chanmina to the world again
Boss said he was careful during the auditions, but towards the end he was genuinely enjoying the girls’ performances. He has become their fan since the 4th round, while he wanted everyone to join personally, as the company’s CEO he had to be selfless. Even mina would sometimes ask him, “What do you think of MAHINA as a fan, not as the president?” He thinks MAHINA is the type of person that could grow under mina’s guidance, so he’s glad Mahina’s chosen as a member of HANA. He had a lot of conversations like this with mina on various participants.
There were some NNG Top 30 girls that surprised boss with their growth compared to when they were in the audition. Mina is the main person handling the conversations with the girls that weren’t picked for HANA, but actually on NNG THE FINAL there were other labels and agencies that went to the concert, plus producers. Fukase (from SEKAI NO OWARI) and Komuro Tetsuya too went to NNG THE FINAL, in these sense, NNG is not over yet
Boss wants HANA to be a group that gains not just fans from home (Japan) but also overseas, so he hopes to reach them as soon as possible. He doesn’t know where or how the fire will be caught, so he wants to tackle this from multiple angles and do his best. When BE:FIRST’s world tour starts in April, he wants to explore opportunities for HANA while touring the world. He has also been working on his own releases and he thinks it will turn out well. His career seems to be attracting interest, especially in Asia, he says people “want to meet him”, from starting as an idol and rapper to starting a company and creating a boy group through THE FIRST and continuously developing new things in the industry as BMSG. He wants to do his best so there’s no time to rest or feel tired at all. Until BE:FIRST clears two more hurdles, he doesn’t think he has time to truly rest.
Through No No Girls, boss was able to meet the CEO of Rainbow Entertainment (the agency Chanmina is part of), Kurita Shuichi. Boss has CEOs he admires but no role model. Given that what he’s doing with BMSG is counter to the entertainment and music system, he knows there technically isn’t a role model, but he thinks Kurita-san might be that for him. He’s senior than him but very liberal in his thoughts, and boss respects that.
- When boss confided in Kurita-san about worries he has regarding management, Kurita-san gave him lots of ideas and the conversation stimulated him. He thinks Chanmina is able to do the things she can now because of Rainbow Ent., even if Chanmina didn’t think too deeply when she decided on this agency. Boss learned a lot from Kurita-san (though they’ve only gone out for dinner once so far) and their meeting was huge for him.
Hope you enjoyed!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!